The rumors you heard about the HP iPAQ 3970 with a 400MHz XScale processor have manifested. European e-tailer Expansys is taking pre-orders for the 3970, and there are details on the site. The specs listed basically match the 3870, but with an XScale processor. Other rumored bumps include SDIO and a better screen. Cynical users over at Pocket PC Passion believe this is a stunt by Expansys, using widely published specs and pretending to know something we don't. Either way, if you're a real PDAGeek this is exciting stuff. Check out the Expansys pre-order site here, and thanks to Pocket PC Passion for the link.

USER COMMENTS 12 comment(s)

What happened to the delay rumours?(8:19am EST Wed May 29 2002)There were rumours a month or so ago about delays with the XScale processor. I think it was because they were pretty power hungry and didn't give much performance gain compared to the 206MHz StrongARMs.

Weren't they supposed to be delayed until July, or something like that?– by Martin Niklasson

re: Martin(2:04pm EST Wed May 29 2002)Who cares about performance, 400 is a bigger (and thus, more impressive) number than 206…

Blah… my 206MHz iPaq is nice, but it could use a boost in speed (hopefully by fine-tuning the OS). I like companies that can do more with less, personally, but we're talking MS & HP/Compaq now…

Just my $0.02 worth,– by myrkat

Battery life/power(3:18pm EST Wed May 29 2002)Isn't Xscale supposed to use a more miniaturized architecture, which should lessen power consumption and INCREASE battery life?

Also, with a power-hungry OS like PocketPC, we could use more power. – by Douchebag

XScale…(10:04pm EST Wed May 29 2002)XScale CPUs will use less than half of the power that it takes to run the current PocketPC StrongARM CPUs (SA-1110).

XScale chips are built using a 0.18-micron manufacturing process. StrongARM chips are 0.35-micron chips. – by Godô

simple question(3:31am EST Thu May 30 2002)whats an SDIO? Also if I wanted to port the screen on a pocket pc or palm, is there any device that would allow me to do that? – by jon

HeXed(6:28am EST Thu May 30 2002)XScale is better than other mobile chips because it has X-Power. Everything with X in it works better…like X-Wing fighters from Star Wars, and the X-Men, and, err, X-Box…Oh well, maybe not everything with X is better :p I guess we're all waiting for Arm's Z-Chip now… – by XFactor

Don't Worry(11:21am EST Thu May 30 2002)There's not a processor that's ever been invented that Microsoft hasn't found a way to slow to a crawl. Watch for Pocket PC .Net, and kiss any perceived advantages of XScale goodbye. – by Lefty

SD I/O(12:43pm EST Thu May 30 2002)Here is how SD IO is different from SD Memory:

SD IO is a superset of the SD Memory specification. It enables I/O expansion for peripherals such as serial, modem, or Ethernet cards. SD Memory is only used for storage card peripherals. An SD IO capable card slot can support SD memory devices, while an SD Memory capable slot may not support an SD IO peripheral.

Basically it's another slot to use instead of CF or PCMCIA… as if 2 standards aren't enough…

And XScale will rock… too bad people like Lefty only associate XScale with PocketPC (which is far better than the current palmOS, IMHO… maybe you should try it before you knock it?), but don't forget that the next PalmOS (5?) will also support XScale… – by Godô

XScale(11:36pm EST Sat Jun 01 2002)Most of the PPC vendors are going to implement the 400MHz PXA250, which offers roughly twice the processing power of the 206MHz SA1110 with about the same battery consumption and same cost.

PPC use of new transflective TFTs and SDIO will be of more immediate benefit to users than XScale. – by Dick O. Stone

XScale(3:17pm EST Fri Jul 12 2002)I just got my 3970 from Compaq and it rocks!, not much of improvement in speed though it seems to bog down less with multiple apps running, big improvement in battery life over my 38xx – by wolfbyte